2009 HOLT Tide Ride

Report by Tom Offer

Photos by Tania Samus http://www.photoblink.com/sailing/tideride09/

The forecast for the 2009 HOLT Tide Ride was for a fresh 20 – 30 knot South westerly wind for Saturday’s qualification series and more moderate conditions for finals day on Sunday. The prospect of a short course racing format with multiple down wind gates set on shallow water and the potential wind against tide situation to attract some swell was more than enough to tempt a brave contingent of Musto Skiff Sailors down to Hayling Island to participate in some awesome racing. With 4 of the top 6 from the recent European Championships in attendance there was quality to match the format.

Saturday morning came and competitors were not to be disappointed, 20 knots rapidly became 30+ as the day progressed. The skiffs were on the Winner bank course racing after the 29ers and with a great view from the boat park it gave the sailors the chance to witness conditions on the course by proxy before going afloat. The wind was continuing to build, the tide was due to ebb and as broken 29ers limped form the race course with a variety of different sized masts anticipation of what to expect was building...

The fleet were keen to get away and get some results in as conditions were clearly worsening. Keeping upright was the major gain factor and place changes were numerous as the 1st race progressed with plenty of capsizing going on. More of the same in the 2nd by which stage Stenhouse, Keen, Upton-Brown, Offer, Nick Hollis and Samus seemed to be enduring the conditions the best as the fleet was already 5 boats down, and then the tide turned…

Race 3 had only 4 finishers in the order of Stenhouse, Offer, Upton Brown and Keen and of those Offer was OCS’d.

Race 4 started and the biggest winds of the day were hammering the fleet, the waves became a major factor and even the big champ took a wobble allowing Bruce Keen to get a well deserved bullet. Despite the shortened course the remaining 2 competitors in Upton -Brown and Offer had to swallow their pride and head for the shore as the finish line was a jibe too far away, a seemingly impossible challenge with the 5 min time limit looming and their boats the wrong way up and the wind above 30 knots.

The prospect of a late start on Sunday to allow some of the other fleets who were unable to complete a series of races on Saturday enabled some of the fleet that were staying on site, to enjoy HOLTS hospitality and have a few drinks.

The accurate forecast continued on Sunday, the wind had moderated and it had been decided that instead of splitting the fleet we would continue to race as one and extend the qualifying series but importantly without the black flag starts which enabled some of the damaged competitors and boats from Saturday to get some all important scores before the one race final. Conditions were excellent for the remaining series races – the short course format allowing competitors to make places through accurate boat handling swift decision making and applying the correct boat on boat tactics.

Keen continued his winning ways in Race 5 with Clarke coming in 2nd, Offer 3rd and Nick Hollis 4th. In the ultimate and 6th qualifying race Upton-Brown beat Stenhouse to 1st and Nick Hollis rescued his series with a strong 3rd.

Going into the Final the Top Six were Stenhouse, Keen, Upton Brown, Nick Hollis, Tom Offer and Russ Clarke.

With the tide ripping on the Pilsey course the race track had become quite one sided with all competitors opting for tidal assistance by going hard left upwind and getting out of the tide by going to the other less tidal side of the course down wind. As such passing opportunities were few and far between. Stenhouse made his intention clear by rounding the windward in 1st just ahead of Graham Oliver with Upton Brown safe in 3rd. Unfortunately Keen had had a bad start and a bad beat and wasn’t looking good apparently having to duck a port tacker on the start which obviously went unnoticed by the well positioned on the water umpire. In the end Alex Cooper and Offer completed the top 5 so with Stenhouse and Upton-Brown a safe 1st and 2nd Offer just took 3rd overall on 10 points and with only 2 points separating 3rd down to 8th place many positions were decided by count back.

HISC demonstrated excellent race management to turn around 36 races between 6 fleets over the course of the weekend using only 2 courses. Saturday will be remembered by competitors for the extreme survival conditions but Sunday will stick out as an afternoon of high intensity, fun and close racing where good tacking jibing and positioning were key and just shows that the Musto Skiff is a rewarding and fun boat to race throughout the wind range.

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